Garment-supporter clasp.



No. 784,323. PATENTED MAR. '7, 1905. P. D. HARDING.

GARMENT SUPPORTER CLASP.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3.1904.

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7 WWW NITED STATES Patented March '7, 1905.

FRED D. HARDING, OF BALDWIN, MAINE.

GARMENT-SUPPORTER CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 784,323, dated March 7, 1905.

Application filed Tune 3, 1964. Serial No. 210,945. v

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRED D. HARDING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baldwin, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garment-Supporter Clasps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in garment-supporter clasps, and more particularly to an improvement on the invention set out in former patents to me-to wit, No. 531,415, dated December 25, 1894; No. 533,458, dated February 5, 1895, and No. 534:,O4 L, dated February 12, 1895. The clasps shown and described in my former patents were designed to be detached from the garment by taking hold of the garment and drawing it backwardly in the clasp until the locking-jaw was carried baekwardly beyond the center, thus permitting the garment to' be withdrawn, requiring the use of both hands to detach the clasp.

One of the objects of the present invention is to so construct the jaw that the clasp can be detached from the garment by means of a lever formed integral with the locking-jaw. To do this, it is found necessary to construct the jaw and lever in a peculiar way differently from that shown in the before-mentioned patents. The form and construction of the jaw and lever of the before-mentioned patents were such that if the locking-jaw be operated to detach a garment of soft material, like hose, it tended to hook it up into the opening in the top without detaching it from the clasp. By my improved construction the garment is readily detachable from the clasp when the locking-jaw is moved away from the stationary jaw.

Another important result attained by the present invention is that the movable jaw is positively held at a distance from the stationary locking-jaw. This prevents the jaws from possibility of actual contact and consequent injury to the garment.

.In the drawings herewith accompanying and making a part of this application, Figure .1

- is a vertical central sectional view of my improved clasp attached to a garment. Fig. 2

is a vertical sectional view of the clasp unattached to the garment. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the clasp, and Fig. 4; is a perspective view of the movable jaw.

Same letters of reference refer to like parts.

In said drawings, A and B represent the top and bottom, respectively, of the body of the clasp, formed by folding a single piece of metal upon itself, and C a raised portion at one end of the base which forms the stationary jaw. The top A has an" opening D therein, formed by cutting away the metal, leaving at the front end a bar E, which serves as a journal or bearing for the movable locking-jaw. Pivotally mounted upon said journal is a locking-jaw F, having integral therewith an operating-lever G, extending from the extremity of the jaw rearwardly and upwardly when the jaw is in locking position through the opening in the top A and adapted to rest upon the top at the rear of said opening and to project slightly above the plane of the top, the locking-jaw when the lever rest Si upon the top coming near enough to the stationary jaw to firmly engage the garment I, but being maintained at a slight distance, as seen at H, from actual contact with the stationary jaw by having its movement limited by engagement of the lever with the top of the clasp, as seen in Fig. 2. The lever extending upwardly from the engaging extremity of the lockingjaw effectively prevents any tendency to hook the garment up between the jaw and top of the frame and always permits a ready clearance of the'garment.

The open space between the two jaws also permits the lever to rest closely down upon the top of the frame while the garment is between the jaws, thus preventing the end of the lever from projecting materially above the plane of the top, so as to be catching into the clothing.

Having thus described my inventionand its use, I claim 1. In a garment-s11pporter clasp, a frame formed by folding a plate back upon itself, the top of the plate being provided with an opening therein, a stationary jaw on the base of said frame and a movable jaw pivotally secured to the top, said movable jaw being provided with a lever extending outwardly and upwardly from the outer extremity thereof, the end of the lever projecting through said opening.

2. In a garment-supporter clasp, a frame formed by folding a plate back upon itself, the top of the plate being provided with an opening therein, a stationary jaw on the base of said frame and a movable jaw pivotally secured to the top, said movable jaw comprising a plate having one end pivotally secured to the top, a bend therein intermediate its two ends and having its free end adapted to project upwardly through said opening in the top.

3. In a garment-supporter clasp, a frame formed by folding a plate back upon itself, the top of the plate being provided with an opening therein, a stationary jaw on the base of said frame and a movable jaw pivotally secured to the top, said movable jaw comprising a plate having one end pivotally secured to the top, a bend therein intermediateits two ends and having its free end adapted to project upwardly through said opening invthe top, when in operative position said free end engaging the top of the frame and the jaw being spaced aparta short distance from the stationary jaw. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 27th day of May, 1904:.

' FRED D. HARDING. In presence of ELGI v G. VERRILL,

NATHAN CLIFFORD. 

